UN – United Nations

By Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, Chief Executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Member of the United Nations High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs At the most recent BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August 2023, one point that was made regularly by policy makers and commentators alike was that the BRICS now contributed more to global GDP than the G7 nations (31.5% of global GDP versus 30%), with their share expected to […]

By Jean Quinn, Executive Director, UNANIMA International; Chair, NGO Committee for Social Development  When I came to the UN eight years ago, I was overwhelmed by the extent of the issues presented to me. However, I knew almost immediately that I was in the right place at the right time. The UN is a vastly different landscape to where I come from in the West of Ireland. Yet I went towards it with an open

How the Tradition of Aloha is Delivering SDG Progress in Hawai‘i The mountainous coastline of Hawaii. Photo: Roberto Nickson/ Unsplash People across America are using the Sustainable Development Goals as a road map to recover better by turning these global ambitions into local action. In Hawaiʻi, that means uniting communities around the tradition and spirit of aloha to accelerate progress on the SDGs and recover from COVID-19. Bella Hughes remembers picking up seashells on Waimānalo

Why 2024 Could Be a Huge Year for the SDGs in the U.S. | unfoundation.org Experts across the U.S. are proving that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be used to create sustainable, resilient, and inclusive communities — for all Americans. Photo: UN Photo/Manual Elías There is a growing movement across the United States — fueled by students, local leaders, and community members of all kinds — to harness the power and potential of the

By Dario José Mejía Montalvo, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues The recent sessions of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) have addressed crucial issues and persistent and emerging challenges for the realization of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. For example, during the 2022 session, amidst the pandemic, the main theme was “Indigenous Peoples, business, autonomy and the human rights principles of due diligence including free, prior and informed consent”. It

Conversations with Young Leaders: Our Questions, Their Answers, and the Future They Envision BlogYouthConversations with Young Leaders: Our Questions, Their Answers, and the Future They Envision Right now, half of the world’s population is under the age of 30 — the largest share in human history. The future will be forged by today’s youth — and they’re already pioneering new ways to tackle persistent problems. Humanity is confronting challenges of a magnitude we’ve never faced

How the UN’s Summit of the Future Could Be a Turning Point for Global Diplomacy BlogEmerging IssuesHow the UN’s Summit of the Future Could Be a Turning Point for Global Diplomacy In September 2024, world leaders will gather at UN headquarters in New York for the Summit of the Future, which aims to “forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like.” Source: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Image Generator As part of a monumental

Eradicating Polio Is Possible: Stories of Resilience and Hope From different corners of the world, two polio survivors and a frontline worker share how polio has impacted their lives and communities. Their stories spark resilience and hope in a world agonizingly close to ending polio. The world is so close to ending polio. But as long as the virus exists in just one corner of the globe, it can spread, unraveling decades of hard-won progress.

Marginalized communities are not voiceless; it is time for us to listen By Jean Quinn, Executive Director, UNANIMA International; Chair, NGO Committee for Social Development When I came to the UN eight years ago, I was overwhelmed by the extent of the issues presented to me. However, I knew almost immediately that I was in the right place at the right time. The UN is a vastly different landscape to where I come from in